IN the lounge at the Hilton hotel that sits on top of Paddington railway station, a tinkling piano heralds the start of afternoon tea. The tune rings out to a room full of exhausted shoppers and travellers. It is one of those automated pianos that gets by without a pianist.

“That is exactly how I feel,” said Tim Bowdler, giving a nod in its direction. “The music is still playing, but I am not sure if anyone can see me anymore.”

For the retiring chief executive of Johnston Press, this should have been the time to be garlanded with praise. In almost 15 years, through a string of deals, he has created Britain’s second-largest regional media group, with flagship titles that include The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post.

Instead, Bowdler, an amiable 61-year-old, leaves behind a company with an uncertain future. Although still profitable, it is creaking with £465m of debt and a shrunken market value of £77m — little more than in 1994 when he took the helm of the small, family-run Scottish publisher whose most notable title was the Falkirk Herald.

Undone by collapsing classified advertising revenues and worries over a debt burden that has sent its shares tumbling 94% in a year, Bowdler resorts to gallows humour to get by.

“Yes, it has been a hell of a tough time,” he said. “You have to maintain a sense of humour however grim it gets.”

His emotions only begin to crack when he starts talking about the pain felt by former employees who have lost money on their investment in the company’s shares.

“However much you rationalise it and claim it is down to factors beyond your control, you are the person who is responsible. I don’t feel good at all — I can’t deny I have presided over a considerable loss of value.”

Bowdler is succeeded tomorrow by John Fry, who joins from Norwich-based Archant, publisher of the Eastern Daily Press and weekly papers across southeast England.

For his part, Bowdler, who celebrated New Year at his house on Sweden’s Lake Vanern with Swedish wife Margaretha, will remain in newspapers after becoming chairman of the Press Association.

His plight goes to prove that nice guys don’t always win. That hasn’t stopped supporters rallying round. “I have always found Tim to be a man of impeccable integrity,” said Sly Bailey, chief executive of Trinity Mirror. “And he is delightful, fun company. A rare combination.”

Keith Miller, chief executive of the privately-owned construction firm Miller Group, said: “Tim is a very level-headed and supportive non-executive director. I’m sure if he is looking to build up some more directorships, he will be snapped up.”

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